Cherry Blossom Fantasy
by Silverlotus
Summary: As a result of Sakura's insecurity directly after Syaoran's confession, the gang is sucked into the story of Beauty and the Beast, with S+S as the main characters. (I suck at summaries...and the 1st and 2nd chapters are kinda bad, but please read anyway!)
1. Oblivion

Chapter One- Oblivion

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D======= = Syaoran's POV

---;--@--;--- = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

This story starts right after Sakura has transformed the Light and Dark cards into Sakura cards. It's after they all realize Eriol has vanished, and Sakura and Syaoran are still catching their breath after using so much magic. 

Ok! Let it begin, and remember it's not exactly like Beauty and the Beast, there're a few varying parts. Also, this is my very first fic, I'll still take flames, but please.... helpful comments only! Don't scare me away from the world of fanfic writing.... never to write again! (o) (unless that's your aim...)

Disclaimer- I own nothing! (except the plot and anything else I made up) Everything belongs to Clamp!!!!!! T-T

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I felt so happy! I'd been able to transform all the Clow cards into Sakura cards, and now they wouldn't lose their magic! Of course, I couldn't have done it without Syaoran.... I glanced up at him and smiled. "Arigato, Syaoran-kun!" His face was red, but that must have been from sending all his magic to me. 

"H-hai..." 

He turned his tired and exhausted face away from me; we were kneeling next to each other, and looked the other way for a moment. I smiled, he had always been so humble, barely accepting a simple thank-you. Then, he turned back and faced me. He looked nervous, and very intense, his brow furrowed. I gazed at him, puzzled, "Syaoran-kun?"

"Sakura....." His gaze lowered until he was staring at his knees, then jerkily turned back to face me. Why was he so darn nervous?

"Syaoran-kun, you can tell me anything! We're friends now." I grinned, remembering his first day in Tomoeda and how he had forcefully tried to take the Clow cards from me. Since then, we had steadily come out of our rivalry, and formed a partnership in capturing the cards. Then, we became friends, and I found that he was a really sweet guy once you got to know him. He nodded grimly and continued.

"Sakura...a...ano.........I...." His almond brown eyes locked onto mine. A few stray strands of his ever-chocolate brown hair fell in front of his eyes. He unconsciously brushed them away out of habit, only to have them fall back again. I smiled at this, his hair had always been so messy, but I suppose, if it were neat, it wouldn't seem like Syaoran.

"Sakura...I......I LOVE YOU!" He finally managed to say.

I blinked, the smile falling from my face. I was shocked, he.....loved me? What should I say? Could I...no....DO I love him back? I'm so confused, does he really love me? We were barely 13! 13 year olds don't fall in love! Not true love...and yet.... looking into his eyes...all I can see in them is warmth...and nervousness. No, I couldn't hurt him, but I didn't want to lie!

"Sakura.....", he whispered hoarsely. He continued to look into my eyes, searching for my reaction. I was so confused, I tore away from his gaze and became suddenly fascinated by a blade of grass by my foot. His bangs covered his eyes as he, too, lowered his gaze to stare down at the ground. Then, abruptly, he stood up and ran away. 

"Syaoran-kun", I whispered, looking at his retreating figure. I would tell him tomorrow, no, I would _explain_ to him how I thought of him, as a friend. "Or perhaps.....no", I shook my head, clearing my head of the thought.

I==D========I==D==========I==D==========I==D===========I==D===========

I ran as fast as I could, out of the Tsukimine Shrine, away from Sakura. I should never have told her, how could she ever love me? After how badly I treated her in the beginning, how I could I possibly have had even a glimmer of hope she could love me? At least I won't have to hear her actually say it to my face. I'm leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow.

Then wind whipped my already unruly hair into a tangled mess as I raced through King Penguin Park, running until I finally stopped out of exhaustion in the wooded area. The air there would have seemed still to any person without magic, but to me, it was alive with the spirits of hundreds of unsettled spirits. I cringed, backing away from the ones that came to close. They were all pointing at me, mockingly it seemed. "Sh--l-r--love you" they whispered. They first few words were lost to the wind, but I'm pretty sure they were saying she would never love me. I drooped, hearing this, not caring what they might do to me. Then, to my surprise, the spirits backed away into the trees, but I could still sense some things, no, not something, one powerful spirit's presence.

I summoned my sword, and waited for the ghost to reveal itself, fully alert. Suddenly, the wind stopped blowing all around, and there was a chilly silence. I tensed, then saw a tall hooded figure clad in black come out into the clearing where I stood. It came closer to me, lifting a hand I could not see, as the sleeves were so long. Before it could do anything more I yelled, "God of Thunder, descend!!" A brilliant crackle of lightning came down from the clear sky and struck the figure. It had no effect. The figure seemed to brush off the attack as an accident as it gazed at me, with amusement, with no eyes that I could see. I glared at it as it stared back, then finally, it lifted its hand, a glowing ball of energy forming, getting larger at an alarming rate.

It held the now enormous energy ball in its palm, then spoke before hurtling it at me. "Your friends will soon join you."

"What?! NO! SAKURA!!" I yelled as the dark ball came hurtling towards me, still enlarging until it was the size of a door. I collided with it, my last conscious thought was of cherry blossoms, before I plunged headfirst into oblivion.

---;--@--;------;--@--;------;--@--;------;--@--;------;--@--;------;--@--;------;--@--;------;--@--;------;--@--

I watched from in a tree, carefully concealing my aura from the new card mistress and Li Syaoran. I was a little worried when Syaoran ran away, and what he would do, so I concentrated on his aura. As he ran farther, it got fainter, but then he stopped it seems. He was probably at King Penguin park right now, judging by how much of his aura I could feel. Suddenly, I felt an extraordinary burst of power from the direction Li-san's aura was in. Then, just as suddenly had the power flared into being, it flared out once again. Li-san can deal with ghosts, surely. Even so, I was about to go check on him, when I realized, there was nothing to check on. His aura was gone! I glared in the direction his aura had been, and prepared to teleport there.

Sakura-chan obviously noticed something as well, her head jerked up in the direction Li-san had gone. FLY!" She screamed. She sprouted wings from her back, and zipped off. I watched as she zoomed like a jet to the wooded area in King Penguin Park, along with her guardians.

"Spinnel Sun! Take care of Kinomoto-san and Daidouji-san. Ruby Moon, come with me!" Spinnel Sun sprinted over to the sleeping forms and lay down in front of them.

"Hai Eriol!" Ruby Moon flew to my side, and together, we teleported to King Penguin park.

When we got there, we found Sakura-chan kneeling in the center of the clearing crying and calling out for Syaoran. She was so caught up in her sorrow she didn't even notice us arrive, but her guardians did.

"Eriol! What are you doing here?!" Keroberos thundered. He and Yue leapt in front of Sakura-chan and shielded her from me. Yue shot a rather angry glare at Ruby Moon. She glared back. 

Ignoring them, I asked, "Where is Li-san?"

Sakura-chan spoke up, hiccupping as she tried to stop sobbing. "He disappeared!" Then she ran towards me and threw her arms around me, crying all the while. "It's all my fault! If I had said something to him when he told me he......then he wouldn't have run away! And now he's gone!"

"Hush, hush. It'll be all right", I soothed as I stroked her auburn hair. She was like a sister to me, or a daughter, and it hurt me to see her hurt.

"But Syaoran-kun! He said that he-", Sakura began, then she broke down into tears again. I looked down at her, then at her guardians. They were looking at their mistress crying, and I knew it hurt them too.

Then, I saw Spinnel in his true form, zipping over the trees to the clearing. , with Kinomoto-san on his back...but where was Daidouji-san? "Spinnel! What are you doing? Where's Daidouji-san?!" 

He made a lightning quick landing in front of me, letting Kinomoto-san of his back, then gasped to me, "Daidouji-san........black....hooded.....energy ball..........GONE!!!!" 

"What?! I can't understand you. Spinnel, calm down!" I yelled. 

Spinnel panted heavily, calming himself down, then started again, "I was watching them just like you told me to, then all of a sudden this thing came down! It was hooded, and had this black, swirly energy ball thing in it's hand. I attacked it, it didn't look too friendly, but it didn't even flinch! Then, it motioned with it's other hand, and Daidouji-san floated up! She woke up, saw what was happening, and freaked out. I tried to get her back on the ground again, but before I could reach her, I ran into some sort of invisible force field! The energy ball just kept getting larger and larger, until finally, the figure threw it at Daidouji-san! The energy ball covered her entirely in blackness, then swirled around until it disappeared. When I looked at the figure, it disappeared too!"

"Tomoyo-chan", Sakura-chan whispered. Then, she looked up at me wide-eyed and asked, "Eriol-kun! Do you feel that?" 

I blinked, when I had been listening to Spinnel's story, I didn't bother paying any attention to a certain aura that I felt. It was probably just a ghost since there were a lot of ghosts in this clearing. Then, I realized, listening to Sakura-chan's words, that this aura, was extremely powerful. I glared at nothing in particular, "Hai."

Kinomoto-san was still asleep, with Yue and Ruby Moon guarding him. Behind them though, I saw a hooded black figure with a swirling energy ball in it's right hand. It motioned with it's left and Kinomoto-san floated up. Yue gasped and flew towards him, then grabbed his hand, trying to pull him away from the figure with the energy ball. All this did however, was cause Yue to be unable to move his body, and so he floated with Kinomoto-san towards the figure. I feared the worst as they got nearer to the figure, but then, all of a sudden, they were floated back towards us again, over our heads, to land softly ten feet behind us. Both of them were asleep.

Sakura-chan cried out, "Onii-chan! Yukito-san!" She started to run towards them, but then stopped. Then, she started pounding on the air in front of her. "I can't get through to them! There's a barrier of some sort between us!" She said frantically.

I looked back at the figure, then my eyes widened with surprise as I saw the black energy ball getting even bigger. It had the diameter of about ten feet! Keroberos and Ruby Moon jumped in front of Sakura-chan to shield her, as I whipped out my staff. "Release." Then, I started attacking the figure, but all my attacks just dissolved once they came into contact with the figure. "Damn."

Sakura-chan tried attacking it too, but got the same results.

The ball kept growing, until finally, the hooded figure flung it at us. I last thing I was aware of was my body shrinking, and then, I was smothered in complete and utter darkness.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++======+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cliffy! Cliffy! Cliffy! Heehee...

Well, I hope you enjoyed that, I'll start working on the next chapter soon, and I'll finish it even quicker if I get a lot of good reviews. ::hint:: ::hint:: ^ - ^


	2. New Memories

Chapter Two- New Memories

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

The first chapter was kind of a Prologue, here's where the fairy tale element is introduced.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!! Keep 'em coming! (yah, Touya is Kinomoto-san)

Disclaimer= As much as I'd like to, I don't own CCS...Clamp does...::sigh:: as if that much wasn't already obvious...

Okay! Begin!

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o'/o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/o'/'o/'o/'

I was being dragged towards a powerful looking specter sort of person against my will. It had a gigantic ball of black stuff that kept expanding in it's hand. I screamed and yelled for help, calling for Sakura-chan. Then, a large black leonine creature started shooting pink bolts of energy at the figure. I watched with dismay, as the pink bolts had no effect what so ever on the specter. Then, the hooded figure threw the black ball at me. Everything went dark...and that's when I woke up.

I yawned, stretching in my bed. What a most peculiar dream that was. The place I was in was so strange. There were long poles with lights hanging from them, but I could not see any candles. Also, the ground wasn't paved with stones, it was covered with smooth gray hard stuff. 'Enough daydreaming Tomoyo-chan, you've got a lot of work!' I thought to myself.

Sighing, I got out of bed and tidied it up. I cast a glance at my still sleeping sister and smiled. Then I walked over to her and shook her gently. "Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan. It's time to wake up!" 

She groaned sleepily, then looked up at me and smiled. "Ohayou, Tomoyo-chan." She said groggily.

"Ohayou gozaimasu," I smiled. I was very fond of my sister, who was one year younger than me. "Now come on, it's your turn to make breakfast!" I reminded her. Then, I walked to my dresser, pulled out some clothes and got dressed. Pulling out a brush I started brushing my hair. Done with that, I walked downstairs to set the table.

"Ohayou Otou-san!" I smiled to my father.

"Ohayou Tomoyo-chan, good to see you up so early today. Is Sakura-chan coming down anytime soon?" My father asked.

"Hai. She's coming, " I replied. Then, I smiled at my Otou-san again. He was so kind and loving. He wasn't too old yet, only about 40. Mother had died when I was four, and when Sakura-chan was three. Oka-san's death had been hard for Otou-san, but he managed to move on, keeping her alive in his, and our memories, often talking about her and showing us pictures of her. Otou-san ran a hand through his graying hair, then went back to reading his book, smiling.

I continued setting the table. My day had started just like any regular day, but somehow, it seemed new. Strange, even. 'Otou-san is home today.. isn't he usually at work? And Oka-san isn't dead...she's just working at the toy company....' I blinked, jerking my head up from the fork I was setting down. 'What's wrong with me today? I'm thinking such nonsensical thoughts! Otou-san works at home, and even when Oka-san was alive, she never worked at any toy company.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I had expected to see Kero-chan when I woke up in the morning, not Tomoyo-chan. What was Tomoyo-chan doing at my house? I didn't remember having a sleep over....'What? Who is Kero-chan?' I then thought. I didn't remember meeting anyone named Kero before, and Tomoyo-chan is my sister! I shook my head to clear it of these strange thoughts, then looked out the window.

The sun was streaming in through the half-closed curtains. I got out of bed and drew the curtains all the way open, opening the window as well. Today was such a beautiful day, but why did I feel so.... sad? I felt sad and empty. Everyone was at home, Tomoyo-chan, Otou-san, and me. Still, it felt like something was missing. I know it wasn't the fact that we had lost all of our wealth, due to the fact that four of father's ships had gone missing. Since the cargo never made it over seas, Otou-san wasn't able to pay off all his debts. His only choice was to sell the house, and move with us, his daughters, to the country. The company had pretty much more or less gone bankrupt. Otou-san was left with only enough money to pay all his workers one last time, and buy the cottage we were living in now. That had been a year ago, and Otou-san now worked as a carpenter, helping the people of the small town we moved to, fixing their furniture and things like that. Though I missed the luxury we used to live in, I had adjusted to this simple life we now lived. I missed my mother, even though I had been very young when she died. However, the sadness I was feeling right now was a new sadness.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo-chan yelled from downstairs.

"Hai! Coming!" Snapped out of my thoughts, I hurried downstairs to make breakfast.

------;--@--;------------;--@--;------------;--@--;------------;--@--;------------;--@--;------------;--@--;----------

I sat on the window sill staring into space. Something didn't feel right today. I had become used to my feline body a long time ago, and yet, when I had woken up, I had got up on my two hind legs, walking upright, stumbling awkwardly. It was after my third fall that I remembered cats' bodies aren't made for walking like humans. I had figured that out a long time ago, just a little while after the enchantment had begun, and never forgotten again. Why was today any different?

"What are you brooding about today Sorcerer?" a deep voice broke of my train of thought.

I jerked my head up at Syaoran, watching him casually through slit eyes. I was silent for awhile before replying. "Does today feel....strange to you?"

He stared at me a moment before turning his gaze to the fire. "I feel depressed."

I snorted; he was always depressed, not to mention cold, selfish, and cruel. The only reason I stayed with him, and in such a humiliating form, was because I had been forced to, against my will. Six years ago, a foolish warlock had been put under trial, under accusations of witchcraft. He had pleaded innocent to all the charges laid on him, saying that he was a "white magic" sorcerer, not a black magic, which he was. This case had been brought all the way to the Royal Judge, who had ordered him to prove he was a white magic user. At the time, the Emperor had fallen ill, and the Empress had already passed away. Their daughters were all either engaged, or married. The only heir to the throne, the only hope for the continuation of the Li Dynasty had been an ignorant, moody little ten year old brat, whose only concern was to build up his own magic powers. The warlock proposed that he would make the prince into what he should be. The Emperor had refused, shaking his head no, but then, because of his illness, had fainted, his head nodding. According to the warlock, the Emperor had nodded a yes, giving his consent to bewitch the prince. Still, the Judge was wary of the warlock, asking for a neutral sorcerer to come be a witness. That sorcerer had been me. 

So, I found myself standing outside of the royal summer palace, with my assistant, watching as the warlock cast the "Ever last" spell on the castle. I was puzzled as to why he was doing this, as the Ever last spell makes whatever it is being cast upon stay in perfect condition forever and ever. This was a spell used for long term benefits, and it takes quite a lot of energy. I shrugged it off as the warlock wanting to impress the Judge by making the Emperor's palace stay beautiful and clean until the magic in the spell wears off. However, beauty isn't everything, as the Judge knew, and so, this hardly proved the warlock as a white magic user. 

The prince was in no mood to be cast a spell upon at the time, throwing a temper tantrum, but, the warlock finally made the prince go inside the doors of the summer palace. I was confused as to exactly what this warlock was doing, as was my assistant. Then, the warlock began chanting the first few lines to the "Soul" spell. My eyes had widened in shock as I realized what the warlock was doing, the "Soul" spell was a taboo spell, most magic users didn't even know what it was, and if they did, they wouldn't be allowed to use it, but I knew what it was. Frantically, I had run to the warlock trying to stop him before he finished. My assistant had gone into the castle to grab the prince and bring him out of the palace doors. I reached the warlock and began a fistfight with him, all the while he kept chanting the spell. He reached the last line of the spell, "...until someone can love you for the person underneath, may you stay forever within your imprisonment, as...a...beast." Thunder boomed and lightning flashed as he uttered those confining words. I punched him in the jaw one last time, and ran into the palace, trying to reach my assistant and the prince before the spell started its work. I was too late, only managing to get inside the doors of the palace, doomed along with the others, as the enchantment began its work.

The prince had been transformed fully, as the spell was meant for him only, and wouldn't return to his true form until someone loved him despite his appearance. My assistant and I had been caught in the magical residue of the spell, and so ended up being transformed as well, only to resume our true forms when the spell on the _prince_ was broken.

I crouched silently, pondering all this. There had also been a time limit put on the spell, we had seven years to get back to our true forms, otherwise we had absolutely no chance of regaining our true forms. Another part of the spell was that we absolutely could not leave the palace grounds, and so I have suffered through six long years of dignity robbing imprisonment with a moody beast, and a talking butterfly. (AN-his assistant) We had one more year to get some poor maiden to fall in love with our beast prince.

"I feel more depressed than usual" Syaoran added.


	3. Winds of Good Fortune

Chapter Three- Winds of Good Fortune

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

Thank you everybody for all of those reviews! Keep them coming!

**Oh yeah...I forgot to add into the first chapter...but um...Spinnel and Kero weren't sucked into the black hole along with everyone else.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story and plot. CCS belongs to Clamp...T.T

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I ran downstairs and rushed into the kitchen to make breakfast. "Gomen nesai! I'll try to get up earlier from now on!!!" I yelled frantically as I scampered around, stirring this, flipping that.

Otou-san chuckled. "Slow down Sakura-chan. Tomoyo-chan and I aren't starving to death or anything."

"That's right Sakura-chan! Take your time, " Tomoyo added. I nodded, but continued to run around, trying to get breakfast ready.

~Later~

"Itadakima!" I said cheerfully as we began to eat. I glowed with pride as I watched my pancakes being devoured. Then, I looked at Otou-san. He seemed really happy today, and I wondered why.

As if feeling my gaze on him, Otou-san looked up and smiled at me. Then said, "Girls, I have some very good news today." 

"What is it?" Tomoyo asked pleasantly. I nodded eagerly wanting to hear.

"Well," he began. "Do you remember those four ships that were lost in that storm? I got a letter from the dock master, back in the city. He says that two of them have recently pulled into the harbor, cargo and all!"

"Otou-san! That's great!" I exclaimed. It was really good news. This mean that we would be much better off than now, and perhaps the company might be able to be brought out of the ditch it had fallen into.

"Indeed. The winds of good fortune seem to have blown our way," Tomoyo smiled. She always had had a way with words.

Otou-san nodded, then continued. "I'll have to make a trip into the city however, to verify that the ships are really mine, and also to tie up some loose ends there."

"How long will you be gone? When will you leave?" I asked, a little worried.

"I'll be leaving in two days, on Thursday. The city is only two days journey on horseback, so I'll get there by Saturday. It should only take about a week to finish everything up, so I'll be home by next Tuesday. I'm sure you two will be able to take care of yourselves, ne?"

Tomoyo and I smiled. "Hai!"

"Demo, will you be traveling alone?" Tomoyo asked.

"Hai. Don't worry though, I'll stick to the path." Otou-san assured. "So, what would you two like for me to bring back to you?"

"Otou-san! You don't have to bring back anything! Just come home safe!" I smiled.

"No, really, I insist. I may not have another opportunity to go to the city again, and I know you must be missing some things we used to have," Otou-san defended.

"Well..." Tomoyo started. She hesitated and then got a dreamy sort of look on her face before replying. I knew she must have been thinking of the piano that we used to have. It was a grand piano, one of the very best, with its ivory white keys and shiny black lacquer. Otou-san used to play it, and Tomoyo would sing while I listened, it had been one of our most loved traditions. Plus, Tomoyo was a great singer, and it sounded really good if she sang to the music of a piano. "Never mind, it's too much trouble. I wouldn't want you to lug a big heavy piano all the way home!"

"Nonsense! I could rent a wagon or something, either way, you shall have your piano." Otou-san declared. Tomoyo's eyes brightened. I knew it would be the only thing she would talk about the whole week. "Now, Sakura-chan, what would you like me to bring back for you?"

I thought, 'I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask for some seeds..' "Otou-san, we don't have many flowers. Do you think you could bring back some seeds? Any kind will be fine."

Otou-san smiled. "Of course." I beamed with happiness. Things were looking up for us, and the emptiness in my heart I had recently discovered was forgotten for the moment.

------;--@--;------------;--@--;------------;--@--;------------;--@--;------------;--@--;-------------;--@--;---------

I have one more year, one more year to get out of this pathetic body, and regain ALL of my powers. True, since the spell hadn't hit me full force, I was able to leave my cat body for one hour every night at midnight to wander the palace grounds as a shadowy specter, but I found walking around without a body a bit creepy, and so rarely did it. I wondered if Syaoran cared about what he was now. I'm a pretty good reader of faces, but his face was always the same. A stony mask of silence. Sometimes I wonder if maybe he would be better off as a beast with no one to bother him, all alone in this dark palace, as he seems to prefer solitude to the pleasure of my company.

Anyway, wether he likes it or not, I must find a way to break this spell! I will not spend the rest of my days chasing mice! But how? After the prince was bewitched, the palace was abandoned, and in a few years, a dense forest had grown around it. No one ever comes here, but I have to get specifically, a woman to come to this god-forsaken place, and fall in love with a beast. Had Syaoran been a nice beast, perhaps it might be easier. However, I've lived with him for six years, and we're barely friends. How shall I make someone fall in love with him in just one year? I must talk to Nakuru.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

I fluttered among the roses in the garden, enjoying myself, drunk on nectar. Then, I felt vibrations, and looked up to see a navy blue cat stalking towards me. I flew to his side. "Konnichiwa, Eriol-sama!" I couldn't wait to tell him my little secret.

He smiled somehow, moving his cat lips into a slight curve. "Ohayou Nakuru." Then, he walked towards the cherry trees, his favorite. "Come" He called over his shoulder.

I hovered around him darting around a few falling petals. "What is it?"

"Nakuru, as you know, we only have one year to break this enchantment, what do you suggest we do?" He asked grimly.

I smiled in my butterfly way, finally he had asked. "All taken care of!" I giggled.

"Nande?" He asked, thoroughly puzzled. I sighed, then explained.

"In two days, a carpenter is going to ride through these woods from the village a few miles away to the North. He is going to ride on the path that goes right past the forest to the city. In five days, he will be on the path back home, but on the way, we're going to make sure, there's going to be a dreadful storm that will drive him into the woods for shelter, and he will stumble upon our little palace." I grinned.

"Nakuru.." He said, shaking his head. "I think you've had too much nectar. Besides, how do you know a carpenter is going to go the city?"

"Ah....I..well...ano....occasionally, I borrow your mirror and er, spy on the village, and you see, there's this family, and they have two daughters that I've, well, grown rather fond of. So I look in on them from time to time, and this morning, I over heard the father, who is a carpenter, is going to the city."

"And how will this help us?" Eriol frowned a bit.

"Well, if you create a storm the night the father is on the way home and kind of make the wind blow the carpenter into the forest, he'll find the palace, and he'll seek shelter here. So...we be nice and hospitable to him, then before he goes, get him to promise to have one of his daughters stay here for a year! Then, well, you know, we set them up with Li-sama!" I explained.

"Nakuru, you're crazy, how do you know he won't just ride back to the village and forget his promise?" Eriol asked.

"Ah....I hadn't thought of that, but we'll think of something! Come on, this is our last chance to return to our true forms, and it's always worth a try. What have we got to lose?" I smiled.

"I suppose, but do you think Li-san will be happy if we go ahead with this without his permission?"

"He'll be overjoyed we're doing this! Besides, it's for him too!" I reassured. I smiled inwardly to myself, this would be great! The plan would go nice and smooth, we'd get one of the daughters

to fall in love with the big cranky monster, he'd turn back into a prince, and we'll turn back into our true forms!

"All right then Nakuru," Eriol sighed wearily. "It's worth a try. Who knows? Perhaps the winds of good fortune have blown our way."

------;--@--;-------------;--@--;--------------;--@--;----------------;--@--;-------------;--@--;-------------;--@--;-

I nodded to Nakuru, then strolled out of the gardens back to the palace, casting one last glance at my favorite trees. Then, I trotted quickly into my private room, and faced a large swirling mirror. I knew the family of which Nakuru spoke since I, too, longing for any sort of contact with the outside world looked in on the village, which was as far as my powers would go in this form, from time to time.

"Show me the Kinomotos." I commanded. The mirror swirled, then cleared, showing an image of the family eating breakfast. I smiled at the auburn haired girl with green eyes. I was rather fond of Sakura, and knew that if anyone could fall in love with Syaoran, it would be her. She was so kind and accepting, and treated everyone equally. 

Then, my gaze fell upon the elder sister. She was quite talented, and could draw as well as she could sing, which she would sometimes do while doing her chores. She loved to make outfits, which were sometimes rather outlandish, for her little sister to wear, and then, sketch her in them. She was always very polite, and somewhat shy, but she seemed really nice. I smiled at her image in the mirror. "Perhaps we'll get Fujitaka to bring both of his daughters" I murmured softly.


	4. Out of The Mist

Chapter Four- Out of the Mist

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

Thank you everybody that reviewed! Keep them coming! And once again I state, I WILL take helpful criticism! ^-^

Disclaimer- CCS belongs to Clamp...but one day..mark my words..it'll belong to me...o yes.....

::ahem::

Start!

------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@

I shook my head. 'Get ahold of yourself Eriol! Just because you've been isolated for so long, doesn't mean you fall for the first person you see!' A little disturbed with myself, I stalked out of the room, tail held high, and went to my bedroom to prepare the plan.

I mustn't tell Syaoran, he'll just order us to stop. If we don't stop, he'll force us to. After all, he has a bit of magic himself, and he's three times my size. Nakuru has magic as well, but she has an even lesser chance of standing up against him, being a butterfly.

The storm would take quite a bit of my energy, but I was willing to sacrifice a bit of my consciousness for a while, rather than have my powers and body shrunken forever. I hissed a bit in frustration that I was so weak now. Had I been in my true form, I could have conjured up ten hurricanes without a second thought, and without any materials at all, just my own magic, but here I am, toiling around on a desk, mixing up powders. I sighed and continued my work.

~One Week Later~ ( No POV)

Fujitaka rode home, weary and depressed, on his chestnut bay. Only two ships had come back, with all the crew surviving, but barely any cargo. After he had paid the sailors, there was no money left for him and his family. He sighed, thinking how sad his daughters would be when he came home empty handed.

It was growing dark, and it would be another two hours before he reached home. In the distance he heard thunder, and saw lightning crackle. 'I hope I can beat the storm', He thought. Light rain began to descend, enveloping the trail and the forest in mist. Fujitaka slowed down his horse, for fear of running into something. The rain gradually became bigger and bigger, with large gusts of wind blowing it everywhere. Lightning zipped across the sky and a gigantic boom was heard. Suddenly, the horse reared and took off, running into the forest with Fujitaka, spooked by the noise.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Fujitaka called, pulling on the reigns with all his might, to no avail. He grimaced at the thought of what might happen, but just lay low on the horse's back, clutching it's mane. The horse plunged on through the trees, trying to escape the thunder's sound. Fujitaka gritted his teeth and thought, 'At this rate, I won't get home until midnight! That is, providing I can find my way through this forest.'

After an hour, the storm began to die down, the rain dripping down slowly on the horse and it's rider from the tree branches. Fujitaka wandered around in the forest for a while, looking for the trail, but had no luck. He sighed, then stroked his horse, trying to calm it down. It had froth coming out of its mouth and was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down. "I'd better find somewhere to stay for the night." He thought out loud. Just as he said those words, the mist cleared, and there, right in front of him, was a large, arched gate, with Chinese, stone guardian lions on both sides. He looked past the gate, and there, was a splendid palace.

Gingerly, he pushed the gate. It swung wide open with a loud bang, surprising the horse. It reared and whinnied loudly. Fujitaka cursed, then pulled on the reigns, bringing the horse down. He swung off its back, and tied its lead to a lion's foot. He stroked it on its nose, whispering calming words to it, then proceeded to walk forward.

He walked down the pathway, admiring the gardens and how well taken care of they were. 'Funny, the Chinese in the village never mentioned any nobility living nearby.' After a while, as the gardens and path were quite extensive, he reached two large red doors. He hesitated, wondering if it was all right for him to just walk in like this. Suddenly, a large violet butterfly flew past him, into the palace. He smiled, and followed it inside. The butterfly flew in front of him, turning a corridor every now and then, until it came into a small room. It was a bedroom, with a fire burning merrily in a corner. There was some tea and food set on a small table next to the bed. There was also a white card on the table. Fujitaka walked toward it, curious. On the note it read, "Huan yin!" He lifted an eyebrow. "Chinese? Welcome? They must mean me...how strange that they knew I was coming." He murmured. He hesitated when he was about to take a bite of a delicious looking fish, garnished with spring vegetables, but then succumbed to his hunger. "Itadakima!"

When Fujitaka was done with the food, the butterfly fluttered to him, seeming to beckon for him to follow it. He got up, and walked with it. It led him back down a grand staircase, and out of the palace, through the gardens. It flew on ahead to some stables, where Fujitaka's horse was. He smiled. "My host has been most generous. Domo arigato," he spoke aloud to the air, hoping that perhaps his mysterious host would hear. He was about to go towards the stable, when he saw some cherry trees. There was a small stream running by them with a bridge, the blossoms lit up by millions of tiny fireflies. "Perhaps I will be able to bring Sakura something after all." He crossed the bridge and walked towards the Sakura trees.

I==D=======I==D========I==D=======I==D=======I==D=======I==D=======I==D=======

I paced around in my room, wondering where Eriol and his assistant had gotten to. I'd gotten a bit wary of the former extremely powerful sorcerer, as he always had some tricks up his sleeve, so I liked to keep an eye on him when I could. I wandered down the hallway towards his bedroom, but stopped when I saw a balcony. I walked onto it, and looked down towards the garden, admiring the cherry blossoms. I looked to the left to look at my peonies, but saw a dark figure walking toward the cherry blossoms. What was he doing here? I leaned down to get a better look. The man looked rather wet and dirty. It seemed as though he had had a rough time. 'Must have wandered in from the storm' I sighed, he could stay the night I suppose, but I would make sure he left the very next morning. He didn't look hungry, so perhaps Hirragiizawa had been off taking care of him. 'Yes, he would do that.'

Then, I saw him reaching towards a cherry blossom tree, breaking off a sprig of my flowers. 'How dare he!!' I thought, enraged that he would just take what was mine, just like that, and take it away from me. I snarled, and bounded through the hallway, and down the stairs to the garden.

------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;-------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@

I heard a loud growl coming from the balcony, and stuck my head out of my room, just in time to see Syaoran bounding down the stairs into the garden. 'Damn! He'd seen Fujitaka!' I darted out of my room, still a little weary from making the storm.

I reached the garden to find the poor man huddled on the ground, clutching a sprig of them in his hands, with Syaoran looming over him, looking like he was about to bite his head off. "What are you doing in my palace?!" He snarled.

"I'm so sorry sir! I thought it was all right...I mean, there was a card...and I just thought that.." Fujitaka stuttered.

"I would have let you stay the night, but what right do you have to be stealing flowers from my gardens?!?!?!" Syaoran yelled, thoroughly enraged. I jumped between them, just as Syaoran was about to swipe the man.

"Syaoran, control yourself," I said calmly. Fujitaka gasped at the sight of me, and nearly fainted away. I admired him for staying conscious. Any lesser person would probably have fainted clean away at the sight of not one, but two talking animals, one of which was mad at him.

"You stay out of this!! You were probably the one who let him in anyway!" Syaoran growled at me.

"Yes, I'll admit that was me, but killing him won't do anything, and torture is just plain cruel." I replied.

"Who's to say I'm not?" Syaoran glared.

I sighed. Then had a brilliant idea. "Listen, perhaps it's not his life he values most. Look at him, he's practically a filthy beggar, and probably wants to die anyway." I stated casually. Fujitaka made and indignant sound at my remark, but otherwise kept quiet. "If you took away his most prized possession, it would be a bigger blow to him, don't you think?" I continued.

Syaoran continued to glare at me for a while, then admitted, "I guess...fine..that's what we'll do then." He then turned around to face Fujitaka. "You, what's your most prized possession?" Fujitaka remained silent. I knew he was thinking of his daughters.

"Perhaps it is not a thing, maybe it's a person, a family member, " I remarked. At this, Fujitaka's eyes grew wide. "Is it your wife?" I asked, playing I didn't know.

"My wife is dead," He whispered, eyes on the ground.

"How about your son?" I continued.

He shook his head. "I have no sons." I could sense his increasing nervousness. Syaoran began to grow impatient.

"Hiragiizawa, you deal with him, this is just stupid," he sneered, growling one last time at Fujitaka. With that, he strode back into the palace on his hind legs, dressed in a red velvet cloak. He had never wanted to admit what he was to himself, and continued to walk erect and wear clothes like a person, despite how difficult it was. I grinned, this was just too perfect. I could deal with Fujitaka as I wished now.

"So, do you have daughters?" I queried. At this, Fujitaka's face scrunched up, sweat practically pouring out of his forehead.

"Please no! Please! For the love of God! Don't take my daughters! Those two are my life! Take me instead!" He ranted all of a sudden, his fear for himself driven away by the fear for his daughters.

I smirked inwardly, and on the outside, pretended to soften. "Well," I purred. " Instead of giving both of them to me forever, how about you give me only one daughter to live here for one year. She'll be fed properly, well dressed, and treated like a princess," I promised. I started to read his mind. Fujitaka was confused, what would a talking cat want with a girl? Also, he then thought I could turn myself into a human, complete with human needs, and desires.

"You don't think I don't know what you want with her?! Well no!" He yelled.

I held my breath to keep from laughing. How queerly his mind works. "I promise sir, not a single hair on her head would be harmed." He glared at me in stony defiance.

"Well, I suppose my friend could always just come to _your_ house to meet you, and _both_ your daughters. I won't be able to come, but I think he'll be able to behave himself," I said airily, and made as if to walk back inside the castle. '1...2....3..'

"All right!" Fujitaka sobbed. "All right!"

I smiled. "There, there. You made a good choice. None of you will have to get hurt, and one of your daughters gets to live like an empress for a year. Of course, she must come off her own free will. You may not just force one of them into this. Explain to them what happened here, and let one of them come back with you within a week. Stay outside the palace grounds, let her come in by herself. Or else.."

Fujitaka gulped and nodded. "Now take your horse, and ride home right now. You'll find food in the pouch. You may also take that sprig you have there back with you. Remember, you have one week. The day after a week is over, and you have not shown up at the castle with a daughter, the beast shall find you." Fujitaka nodded again, then scampered off into the stables. I watched as he galloped like a madman through the gates, and into the forest. I sent a breeze his way, to watch over him and make sure he got home safe.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I watched outside through the window. It was already 1 'o clock in the morning, and father still hadn't come home yet. "He said he would be back by dinner!"

Tomoyo came over and hugged me. "Don't worry, he'll come home" She sat down next to me and watched through the window as well. Suddenly, I heard the sound of Ginger, Otou-san's horse. The sound was followed by a figure from out of the mist, galloping on the horse.

"Otou-san!" I ran outside to greet him, followed by Tomoyo. He looked absolutely exhausted! Ginger was covered with froth. We helped him out of the saddle, and he collapsed in our arms.

"The ships, no cargo left! And the beast he-" Then he fainted. 

Tomoyo took off the bag he was carrying, and together, we lifted him up and bought him inside. We laid him on the couch and got him a blanket. Tomoyo ran off into the kitchen and came back with the kettle and a cup. She poured him some tea then whispered to me, "Go take care of Ginger." I nodded and ran outside to the horse.

When I came back inside, I found Tomoyo, staring dumbfounded at the bag. I walked over to her and looked inside it. It was full of jewels! There were diamond rings, ruby bracelets, sapphire earrings, and many more beautiful gems inside. It was like a king's ransom! I picked up a strand of pearls. "I thought he said there was no cargo left" I whispered in awe.

I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======

I sat on a chair on the balcony, watching what was going on below. Why had I left? Because, despite the fact that I have never exactly liked that Hiiragizawa since I was ten, I had to admit, he was one crafty sorcerer. He had become famous throughout all of China when he was only eleven. He dabbled in dark magic a bit, and I knew that he would love to put to work one of his plots he had been formulating in his head. Judging by what a twisted mind he had, this should be quite interesting.

I saw Hiiragizawa step toward the man, who was huddled on the ground, cowering in fear before a little blue cat. I smirked, but then frowned, since I couldn't hear what was going on. Well, whatever that sorcerer said to him, it got him on his feet, jumping on his horse, and out the gate in ten seconds flat. 'I'll just ask Hiiragizawa what happened when he comes back up.' I waited for a bit, and soon smelled the cat stalking back up the stairs to the balcony. Yes, I smelled, although I could hear very well, too. This new body of mine can do quite a lot, and is rather powerful, but I still want my old body back.

"I took care of it," came a smug voice from behind. 

Without turning around I answered him, "What happened?"

"He will be presenting to you in a week's time his most precious treasure," the cat mewed.

I snorted. 'What can a beast do with gold or jewels?' I thought. Instead, I said, "And what might this 'precious treasure' be?"

There was a long pause before Hiiragizawa answered, but finally, he replied. "Well, he has two daughters..."

"What will his daughters make for me?" I already had an extensive collection of persian rugs, and elaborate embroideries, and would have no real use for whatever this man would give me. I must admit, Hiiragizawa disappointed me.

"Ah.....well, his daughters aren't making anything for you. They're around you're age you know," came a voice from behind my chair. I turned around to face him, lifting an eyebrow, or, whatever would have been an eyebrow for a beast. "Li-san I made a deal with him that one of his daughters...she is...will, come to live with you." Hiiragizawa answered. There was a brief moment of utter and complete silence, before what he said had completely registered in my mind.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?"


	5. To the Palace

Chapter Five- To the Palace

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

Hey!! Thank you very much to all that reviewed, and I apologize that I took so long to write this chapter! I was kinda lazy. ^-^'

Disclaimer- I own the plot and any characters that I might make up, otherwise, CCS belongs to Clamp.

Well here ya go..!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When the mist cleared, I saw a dark figure standing before me in a garden. I couldn't tell who or what it was, because it's face was covered in shadow. Its shoulders were hunched over and it looked so miserable. Well, I guess it didn't _look _sad, since I couldn't really see it's expression, but there was just this feeling in the air, that made me feel like crying. I walked towards it, curious, and sad for it. As I reached my hand out to it, it's head turned towards me. 'Who could it be?' I could almost see its face and then-

"THUD!"

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?!" Tomoyo rushed into the room when she heard the noise.

"H-hai..I'm fine.." I groaned, cradling the arm I fell on. "I guess I just fell off the bed."

Tomoyo sweat-dropped. "Sakura-chan...!" She giggled. "Oh well, it's good that you're awake now, breakfast is almost ready and I was going to come up to call you down anyway. Now go get ready, and come down to eat, all right?"

"Ok", I replied. Tomoyo smiled, then headed back downstairs. She was so nice to me! Even though we weren't real sisters, she always treated me like one. In truth, we're second cousins, but her mother died when she was very young, and her father could care less about what happened to her. Our mothers were cousins, and they had been very close, so for Oka-san's sake, we took Tomoyo in. Oh yeah, by the way, her real last name is Daidouji.

~*~Later~*~

I bounced down the stairs and helped Tomoyo set the table. Then, we all sat down to eat. "Itadakimas!" I gobbled down my pancakes happily, but noticed Otou-san was hardly even touching his. "Otou-san, is there something wrong?" 'He's probably tired from yesterday' Last night, he had rode home, obviously at a very high speed, and exhausted himself. The moment he got home, he fell asleep. Tomoyo and I were very worried about him and barely got any sleep last night.

Otou-san looked up at me sadly. "Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan, I have something to tell you." He paused and took a deep breath. "First of all, only two ships came back, with only a bit of cargo, and after I paid the sailors, there was none left."

"Then where did all that jewelry and gold come from?" Tomoyo asked.

"Jewelry and gold?" Otou-san replied, obviously puzzled.

"Yes, we found it in your pack on Ginger," I explained, also dragging it out of the cupboard we put it in. "See?" I opened the bag and showed its contents to Otou-san.

Otou-san's face grew very white, instead of happy like I thought he would be. "The cat...." He whispered hoarsely. A few tears threatened to spill from out of his eyes, but he managed to keep them in. "That's the second thing. On the way home, a huge storm started, and all the thunder and lightning spooked Ginger, so she took off into the forest. Anyway, when the rain stopped, I tried to find a shelter for us to stay, since it was getting dark. Then, we stumbled into the most amazing palace I've ever seen. I decided to take a chance, and walked through its gates. There was a dainty little butterfly fluttering in front of me, and so I decided to follow it. It led me to a room where there was food and drink on a table next to a bed. There was also a little card that read, 'Huan Yin'"

"Chinese?" I asked.

"Hai, Chinese, and it means 'Welcome'. So I assumed I was welcome. Then, when I finished the food, the butterfly appeared before me once again, and led me downstairs to the stables where Ginger had been groomed and fed, but by whom, I did not know. Anyway, I decided to take a walk in the garden, and there I saw cherry blossom trees. I thought you would like it if I managed to bring a sprig back to you, so I picked one off for you." Otou-san got up, and rummaged through his pack, then came back to the table with a sprig of cherry blossoms. He handed them to me, then sat back down. "Here it is."

"Arigato Otou-san!" I smiled cheerily. 'How kind of him to remember me even when he was having so much trouble!'

Otou-san forced a smile, then continued. "Well, as soon as they came off the branch, this terrible beast appeared before me! It talked! It ranted and raved on about how I had been welcomed into his palace, and in return, I had stolen from his gardens. Then, he made as if to swipe my head off, when this strange bluish cat appeared! It started reasoning with the monster, and soon the monster stalked off back into the palace. Then the cat told me....he told me that" Otou-san gulped, a tear rolling down his cheek. "In return for sparing us, I must let one of you stay with the cat and the monster at the palace for a whole year." Otou-san finished, and started trembling, sipping some tea to calm his nerves. "Oh yeah, we've got one week", He added quietly. "And it said you'd be treated like a princess, and not a bit harmed. I don't care though, neither of you will go!"

Tomoyo and I stared wide-eyed at him, it hadn't completely sunk in yet, and half of it sounded too bizarre to be true. However, we knew our father would never lie about something like this. 'I can't let my family suffer, just because of my stupid request for some flowers...I guess that I...

"I'll go!!" Tomoyo and I yelled at the same time. Then we looked at each other strangely.

"No Tomoyo-chan, it was my fault we're in a situation like this right now, I must go", I said quietly.

"Sakura-chan..." Tomoyo had tears in her eyes. "Perhaps you are right, but I will go, no matter what you say!"

"Neither of you will go! You two must flee to the city while I go to stall for time", Otou-san said desperately. "He asked for one, he shall get none."

"Otou-san, that couldn't be the right thing to do, since we'd be losing you in the process. I'll go." I stated firmly.

"Sakura-chan-" Tomoyo started.

"No, don't try to change my mind!" I said quietly.

My sister and father sat and contemplated it awhile, both knew that when I made up my mind, it really was made up. They were lost in their own thoughts, I couldn't tell what they were thinking.

Otou-san sighed heavily. "It's only a year, I guess, if you really have to, then, all right." Tears were shining in his eyes. "All right."

Tomoyo added, "We'll all go together to send you off."

I nodded solemnly. "Then it's settled. In a week, I'll go."

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' 

We all got up from the table like nothing horrible had just happened. We had all decided that for Sakura's last week home, we would act normal, so as not to make anyone more upset with crying and protests. I had also decided for myself that I would go with Sakura to live in the palace for a year. I'm not sure what good I would do, but I just know, that I can't let anything happen to my little sister!

---;--@One Week Later---;--@--;---At the Palace@--;---

"Has everything been prepared?" I asked Nakuru. It was the day they were supposed to come, if they even came at all, and I seriously hoped they did. If they didn't, it was probably our last shot at ever defeating this curse, going right down the drain. It's not like I ever intended to actually send Syaoran after them. 

"Yup!" Nakuru squealed. Her voice, as a butterfly had become less louder, but then again, this was Nakuru. She flitted around happily. "Would you like to see the room I prepared, Eriol-sama?"

I smiled. "Sure, lead the way." I really, really hope this works. Stress had started turning my fur white, which I hastily turned back into its normal color, whenever I noticed a white hair, I'm only sixteen after all!

I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D====== 

I paced around my room, dressed in my royal robes. Mother had always said, "No matter the rank, ladies are ladies, and you are a prince. You must be a gentleman and make a good impression!" After she said that, she would always make some servants haul me up to my room, and stuff me in my custom made robes. I guess I was just acting on instinct, even though those days were long gone. I knew Hiragizawa thought I couldn't care less about my life as a human, the past or the future, but in some ways I guess I missed it.

Anyways, I dreaded this day that a silly girl would come, stinking up the air with her perfumes and thinking that just for being a woman, I would instantly fall in love with her, which was exactly what Hiragizawa wanted. Oh yeah, I hate him, and I'm going to tear him apart the next time I see him, or maybe I'll go downstairs right now and have a little _word _with him.

------;---@---;-------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------;---@---;------

I smirked, hearing Syaoran come thundering down the stairs. "Right on time." I looked out the window, they had come after all, and were almost here.I looked back at Syaoran in his imperial robes. "Yes, you've got the idea. Make a good impression." 

Syaoran growled at me, and made as if to bite my head off, which I must admit, scared me some, but then held himself back. "Whatever." He rolled his eyes. 

Nakuru darted innocently between the two of us, obviously very excited, too. "I wonder which one will come?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We rode to the palace, each on our own horse. Otou-san was on Ginger, and Tomoyo and I were riding on two lovely snow-white mares that had 'mysteriously' shown up at our front door one day. Obviously, the residents of the castle were kind enough to send us mounts so we didn't have to walk. I really hoped they were not as evil as Otou-san claims they are. I was actually kind of looking forward to this. Maybe this will turn out to be a great experience for me, after all, everything happens for a reason. I don't believe that we could have so much bad luck in a row, so perhaps this is a good thing!

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o'/o'/o'/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'

I sighed, looking at Sakura. She was always so cheerful, and forever looking on the good side of things. I must admit, she could be a bit dense at times, but she always meant well. I admired her for her wonderful smile, and how she never let anything get her too down. I was going to come along to the palace with her, to make sure nothing does. Somehow, I'll sneak in, without anyone noticing me, and just kind of keep an eye on Sakura. I never thought that I, Tomoyo Daidouji would be sneaking around places like a thief, but I supposed it's necessary in a dilemma like this. 

I glanced at Otou-san. I felt so bad for him! To think, he thought he would be losing just one daughter today, which was bad enough, but I'll be going, too, which makes two daughters. I hoped he would be all right while we were gone

Then, I looked up, and saw the palace. It looked absolutely beautiful! There were sprawling gardens in front of it, all well taken care of. The palace itself was made in the Chinese style obviously, since we were in China. One thing that struck me as odd was that none of the villagers had mentioned any nobility living around here at the moment, although there had been a prince a while ago. He had disappeared mysteriously, in the same year that China's most respected sorcerer had vanished.

Anyways, my eyes were glued to the beautiful place in front of me, evidently, so was everyone else's. We rode up to the gates, which had stone dragons on both sides. The gates themselves were decorated with dragons and phoenix going up and down the bars, which were a gold color. As soon as we approached the gates, they swung wide open, beckoning us to go in. We rode up to the magnificent palace, my eyes darting around, trying to take in all the sights. Oh how I wished I had my sketchbook, or at least a journal! 

When we reached the doors, which by the way, were ten feet high each and really, well, royal looking, they swung open. A small blue cat stepped out, and bowed to us. "Welcome."

I stifled a gasp, astonished at the talking cat. Otou-san had told us about it, but it was even more queer in person, Still, I felt respect for the little creature, and so immediately clambered off my horse and made a slight curtsy. I felt really plain next to all this finery, and wished I had worn a better dress.

The cat nodded to Otou-san and asked, "Which one?"

Sakura stepped forth and said, "Hello, I am the one who is staying." She smiled, and curtsied awkwardly. She was not used to this kind of etiquette, I however, had been in lessons since I could talk. I smiled, despite the situation we were in. 

The cat smiled, or as much as cats can smile, and nodded. "We will be glad to have you with us." Then he turned to Otou-san. "You may go now." 

Otou-san hesitated, as though he was going to speak against the cat. The cat gave him a look, and Otou-san sighed resignedly. "Yes sir." He looked at Sakura, with tears in his eyes, and went up to hug her, starting to weep.

"Daijoubu Otou-san! It'll only be for a year", Sakura whispered softly.

"Right", Otou-san replied. Then he gave her one last look, before the cat spoke again.

"Go to the stables with your other daughter, and let your horses rest a while. There will be some provisions for your trip back home", The cat said sternly.

Otou-san bowed, and began to walk towards the stable. "Come Tomoyo-chan." 

'Time for the plan Tomoyo!' "Hai." I began to walk towards Otou-san. , but then I tripped on a stone "Ahh!"

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura rushed over to me. "Are you ok?!" Concern shone in her eyes. Otou-san rushed over, too. The cat stared at me. I think he knew that I was faking it, and also what I intended to do. I made myself not think about him, and continued my charade.

"I'm fine, but I think I sprained my ankle", I told Sakura. Then I looked at Otou-san, "I'm ok, just go to the stable without me."

"Demo, Tomoyo-chan! You can't ride home by yourself!" Otou-san protested.

"Daijoubu", The cat spoke. "I'll give her an escort home, as soon as she's well enough to travel."

Otou-san looked at the cat, as if debating wether or not he would be worth trusting. "It's all right, it won't be any trouble for me."

Otou-san sighed. "All right."

"Now go to the stables, and then you may go home", the cat said. 

I walked up to Otou-san." Good-bye for now Otou-san!" We hugged for a moment, and then I let him go home. I turned around to the cat. "It's all right. Don't trouble yourself to give me an escort back. When my leg gets better, I'll go."

"But Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura protested.

"No no! I'll be fine!" I grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

So, how'd you like that? I know it was really actually rather boring, but just stick around for the next chapter! I promise it'll be better! But just one thing..notice that this fic is not labeled as "action", so don't be expecting any action! ^-^


	6. Meetings

Chapter Six- Meetings

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

Thank you very much to everyone that reviewed! ::sniffle:: Wahhh!! I'm just...so...touched...hehe, well anyways, I hope you'll stick with me through the whole story, no matter how cheesy, typo filled, and cliche it may be! ^-~

Note: I know I really should have dropped a hint about this earlier in the story, but I forgot, and plus, I couldn't really fit this into the story, but I'm taking this opportunity to tell you, Sakura still has her magic.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, come on, it's time to go meet the other..er, residents of this humble abode", the cat beckoned. I looked back towards Tomoyo, but she just smiled and nodded at me, and continued walking toward the stables. I noticed she wasn't really limping that much, and breathed a sigh of relief. I hoped she would be all right going back home all by herself. I turned back around to face the cat, and nodded shyly.

The cat seemed nice enough, but very mysterious. Of course, I suppose any talking animal would be, but there was just something a little different about it's royal blue fur, and dark blue eyes. Plus, it talked legibly, with no meowing or anything. If I had only heard its voice, and didn't know it was a cat, I would have thought it was a man. In short, it was almost nothing like a cat, more like, a little person. People have names, I wondered if this cat did.

"By the way, my name is Hiragizawa Eriol. What's yours?" the cat asked. I blinked, a little surprised at how it was almost like he had read my mind, but I shook it off as a mere coincidence.

"Kinomoto Sakura", I replied, a little shakily.

"Ah, Sakura, what a beautiful name", Eriol smiled. 'How does he smile in a cat body?'

I blushed at the compliment and smiled. "Arigato, Hiragizawa-san."

Eriol grinned. "You may call me Eriol, Hiragizawa-san is too long, and it makes me feel old. May I call you Sakura-san?"

I nodded. "Hai, Eriol-kun!" He didn't seem so bad. 'Maybe this won't be so bad after all.' We got to the big heavy doors of the palace, and I wondered how we would open them, of course, I could always use my magic, but then, Eriol walked forward and muttered something under his breath. The doors flew open, and we walked in. I stifled a gasp. 'Eriol knows magic, too!'

Suddenly, a butterfly flew over, it darted to and fro around me, and I swear I heard it squealing something like, "Ahh!!! So kawaii!!" 

"Ah yes, Sakura-san, I would like you to meet Akizuki Nakuru", Eriol gestured towards the butterfly with a paw. Then, he turned towards the butterfly, "Nakuru, this is Sakura."

Talking cats, sentient butterflies, I almost expected something like this, so I calmly curtsied to the butterfly. "Konnichiwa Akizuki-san. I am Kinomoto Sakura."

"Ahhh!!! Sakura-chan is so kawaii!!!!!!" Then seemed to calm down a bit. 'So I did hear it talk', I mused. "Please!! Call me Nakuru-chan!!" I could almost see the butterfly's giddy grin. The butterfly called Nakuru then proceeded to continue flying around my head yelling "Kawaii!!!!!!"

I giggled, blushing a bit. It seemed pretty nice. Hyperactive, but definitely nice. "Hai, Nakuru-chan!"

Eriol smiled, things were coming along nicely so far. Suddenly, we heard a sound like thunder, coming down the stairs. All I could see of the figure was a long satiny cape, and also, a tail? 'This must be the monster!' 

The smiles were wiped off all our faces. Eriol cleared his throat quietly, and announced, "Sakura-san, may I present to you, the master of this mansion-"

He was cut off by a gruff voice. "Li Syaoran." I gasped when I saw what 'Li Syaoran' was. 'A giant, wolf!' I tried to stop staring, and tried to be polite to this...animal.

I curtsied. "Kinomoto Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you sir", I whispered timidly. Li simply glared at me, and if looks could kill, I'd be lying on the ground by now. (A/N- I know, I know, very cliche! Gomen!) He was examining me, like he was deciding whether or not he would let me live, or eat me for dinner. The seconds ticked by like hours, but finally, he looked away from me, and stalked back upstairs.

For a moment, nobody said anything. I suppose even after living with this cold wolf for a while, like Eriol and Nakuru had, he could still be quite scary. I broke the silence. "Eriol-kun, Li-san, he is your master?"

Eriol blinked, then smiled at me. "No, he is not. We simply live in the same mansion, roommates."

"Souka." I smiled, still a bit shaken by my encounter with Syaoran. 

"Speaking of rooms, Nakuru, would you please show Sakura-san to her room?" Eriol asked politely.

"Oh!! I forgot my stuff! It's all outside, on the horse I rode, I'll go get it," I exclaimed.

"You brought your own things? Sakura-san, it's all right. You won't need them," Eriol smiled.

"Hoe..?"

"I'll have them sent up to your room though."

Nakuru flitted impatiently in front of my face. "Sakura-chan, come on!!" She flew off up the stairs.

"Nakuru-chan!!! Matte!!" I raced off after her, the wolf was forgotten.

------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------

"She has magic?!" Syaoran thundered. I had followed him upstairs, after Nakuru took Sakura to her room.

"Why do you ask me? You do to. Undoubtedly you could sense hers", I replied calmly. Irking him was one of my favorite activities, and few pleasures I had. Sad, isn't it?

Syaoran glared at me. I ignored it, since I was already immune to his famous death glares. "What was the reason for even inviting her here? Do you mean to mock me?!" Syaoran roared.

"Ah, so you've figured out her magic is stronger than yours?" I said smugly.

Syaoran was silent. His claws twitched. Suddenly, I feared I had pushed it too far. However, he seemed to control his temper. "Just tell me why you invited her to my mansion."

'Crap! I can't tell him my real reason! Then he'll throw her out! What do I do?? Think Eriol, think.' "Well, you know how we're not exactly in our true forms right now? You know how we only have one year left to turn back?"

Syaoran lifted an eyebrow at me. 'Wolves have eyebrows?' I mused.

"I was hoping that perhaps Sakura-san could help us break the spell. Four magic users would certainly be better then three, right?" I lied. 'Hey! That was actually a pretty good excuse. I was out of the fire now.'

"Then why is _she_ here?!" Syaoran went into a closet, and came out with a tied up, and very scared looking Daidouji Tomoyo. '...And into the pot.'

I darted over to Tomoyo as fast as my little cat paws could carry me. "What did you do to her?!" 'How dare he tie up a lady!'

"Nothing, yet! Unless you explain why she's here!" Syaoran barked.

"She's here because she injured her ankle, and so I told her she could stay until she's well!" I know she actually wanted to keep an eye on Sakura.

"Her ankles are fine!!" Syaoran pointed to a bruise on his arm. "Could she have done that with an injured ankle?!"

I blinked in surprise at Tomoyo. 'Wow.' "Well, I guess she got better than.."

(A/N- Tomoyo's thoughts will be in ~'s, ok?)

Syaoran glared at me, while Tomoyo's eyes shone with tears. I took the opportunity to read her mind. 

~Oh God! They're going to kill me now!~

'I don't think she trusts me too much...'

"Li-san, what does it matter to you if one more person stays in your mansion? You've got more rooms than you need, enough for a royal family and all their courtiers. She probably could have just wanted to keep an eye on her sister or something. Also, as an apology for tying her up like that." 

~He knew, he knew all along~ 

'Syaoran, please be in a good mood today!'

Syaoran glared at me for a moment. "Why do you care so much? I thought you 'preferred your solitude'" Then he went out of the room.

"Phew!" I looked over at Tomoyo. "My lady, I do apologize for my friend." I took out the cloth in her mouth delicately with my mouth, and spit it out so she could talk. Then, I unsheathed my claws and carefully cut away her bonds. 

She shakily took a breath. "Domo arigato..."

"Hiragizawa Eriol."

"Hiragizawa-san", she finished. She smiled at me. "Daidouji Tomoyo."

I smiled at her. 'She's staying!' "Well then, Daidouji-san, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room."

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'

Well, I guess I won't have to sneak around, and I suppose Sakura will be all right if she's with this cat. I just hope she'll know to take care around the wolf. It's a good thing it was feeling kind today. I'm glad the cat figured out my real reasons for staying, but..'OH! What about Otou-san?? He thinks I'll be back in a few days, but I know, I'm going to stay here until the year is over! He'll worry when I don't come home!!'

"Daidouji-san..." He looked at me with concern.

"Nani?" 

"Don't worry about your father, I'll send him a note, and explain the situation to him", Eriol smiled.

"Arigato!" 'How did he know.....?'

"Well, here we are", We came to a violet door, with a plum blossom engraved into the wood. The door swung open, without either of us touching it, and I was surprised a bit.

"It's all right, go on in. This will be your room for the rest of the year. In case you're wondering, Sakura-san's room is right across from yours." He motioned to another door behind us with a cherry blossom engraved in the cherry wood.

"All right", I smiled.

"You may do whatever until dinner, which will be at 8 o'clock." 

"Arigato! I'll see you then?" She curtsied slightly.

"Hai", Eriol lowered his cat head, making a feline bow.

"Ja ne!"

"Ja."

I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======

I brooded in my room after dealing with that Daidouji and Hiragizawa. 'Damn! One girl is enough to deal with, but two?!' I shuddered, remembering the first girl I ever knew, besides my mother of course, who was scary enough. 

~Flashback~

"SYAAAOOORAAAANN!!!" A raven-haired girl with ambitious red eyes ran up the pathway to the gazebo a young boy was standing in, and leaped on him.

"Mei-ling! Get off me!" The amber eyed boy yelled. His already messy brown hair flew in even more disarray as he tried to rid himself of his pesky cousin.

"Demo! Syaaaooooraaaan!!!! You're my fiancé now!!!!" Mei-ling shrieked lovingly.

"I don't care! I never wanted to be married in the first place, especially not to you!" Syaoran glared.

Mei-ling clung on to ten-year old Syaoran, and grinned widely, completely ignoring his words.

"Mei-ling I said, get off me!! We're going to fall in the-"

Splash! The young princess and prince fell over the railing of the gazebo, and into the lake. Mei-ling still gleefully hung on to Syaoran. Syaoran undignified, stood up, and made to walk away.

"Syaoran! Help me up!" Mei-ling giggled.

The young Syaoran groaned and reached out a hand to his annoying cousin. A prince is still a prince after all. Mei-ling suddenly pulled on his hand hard, causing Syaoran to fall back in the lake.

"Mei-ling!!" Syaoran glared at the still giggling girl.

"Gomen Syaoran! I couldn't resist! Demo...I'm still wet and sitting in the lake.."

Syaoran glared at her again, then sighed resignedly. He sloshed through the knee high water, and picked Mei-ling up. Then, he set her down on the bank. 

"Arigato Syaoran!"

Syaoran ignored her and began walking back to the palace.

"Oi! Syaoran!! Matte!!" Mei-ling scampered after her fiance. She caught up with him, and hooked her arm in his, much to his protests.

They walked back to the palace wet and soaking. Mei-ling couldn't have been happier, walking side by side next to Syaoran. The latter however, was grumpy and uncomfortable, not to mention annoyed to a certain extent which made him potentially dangerous.

~ End Flashback~

I smiled slightly at the memory. I had been fond of Mei-ling, she being family and all. She loved me to the point where I almost cracked. I barely ever had time for magic, since I was spending so much time trying to get away from her. She hadn't been so bad though, now that I thought of it, and I kind of missed her, too.

'Get a grip Syaoran, just because you see a human girl again, doesn't mean you have go take a stroll down memory lane! Besides, you'll never see her again. Remember? You're a hideous monstrosity now. They broke the engagement off because off that!...O..wait a minute...'

I smiled. I remember that after I had become enchanted, the only good thing that came of it was that they had broken the engagement. 'I guess it's alright to reminiscence a bit....'

Suddenly, I heard a half-stifled sneeze. I turned around in the direction of the noise. It was that girl! How dare she spy on me!! 

"What are you doing here?! Explain yourself!" I thundered, mad as heck.


	7. Surprises

Chapter Seven- Surprises

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

Ahh!! Gomen!! The last chapter was soooo cheesy!! "I thundered, mad as heck"?!?!?! What was that?!?! Ahh!! Gomen!! . I promise, this one will be better!!

Anyways, despite how much the last chapter sucked, I hope you will forgive me, and continue to review!! Also, please tell me if you think I should change the rating to PG-13, I can't really judge these things very well!! ^-^'

I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======

"Didn't that damn Hiragizawa tell you THE WEST WING IS STRICTLY OFF LIMITS?!" 

"I'm sorry! I didn't know! I was just looking for Eriol-kun, and I walked by this room and saw you in it!", Sakura defended.

"And then you decided to spy on me, right?! You decided to stick around and stare at 'that ugly monster'!!" I grabbed her arm and began to twist it. "I decided to let you stay in my palace, but you just decide to 

"Ow! I wasn't staring!! I was just.." she trailed off, and looked down on at the floor.

"You were just what?! You're just like the rest! Goggling at me like I was some sort of freak!"

"I don't think you're a freak", She whispered quietly and strained.

"Then what?! Actually, you know what, I don't care! Just get out!" He flung my arm out of his hand.

"I'm sorry"

"Just go!" I glared at her, and it seemed to work. She looked at me..sadly? Then she left, murmuring one more "I'm very sorry."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I ran down the hallway as fast as I could, not really knowing where I was going. Soon, I came to my room, and so I ran in, slamming the door behind me. I just panted against the door for a minute, trying to catch my breath, and still my heart, which was beating one hundred times a second.

At first I really had been looking for Eriol, but then I walked by his, Syaoran's room. I was going to just go past, but then I saw, he was smiling. I couldn't help but watch him a bit. I haven't lived here long, so I'm not sure if he smiles often, but his smile really was actually very nice. 'I didn't know wolves could smile.'

"Ah!" I flinched, then looked down at my right arm. Blood was slowly leaking onto my shirt. Syaoran had probably gouged it with his claws. Slowly, and carefully, I took off my shirt, and hunted around for some sort of medicine kit. There was one at the foot of my bed, and I got some clean white strips of cloth from it. I managed to make a tourniquet for my arm, and then sat down on the bed, wincing every now and then.

'Oh! My shirt! Well, I can't wear that now.' I groaned. All of my other clothes were in my pack, and that hadn't been brought up to my room yet. Then, I saw a wardrobe. 'I hope Eriol won't mind if I borrow something from it.'

I stood up, to go open the wardrobe. The door opened soundlessly, and I gasped in wonder. The wardrobe was a doorway to a whole other room! I gingerly stepped in, and once inside, I gasped again. The room was full of clothes! It was all in an Asian/oriental style, but the room had everything, from formal dresses, to riding boots!

"Hoeeeee!!"

~Later~

I had picked out a long sleeved (so as to hide the cut), pink silk dress, with slits to my knees on both sides. It had very prettily embroidered cherry blossoms all over it. Beneath the hanger it was on, were also a pair of matching pink, silk shoes. Also, when I came out of the room, I had went to my dresser, and picked out some matching earrings.

I twirled around happily giggling, then fell on the bed. "Ah! If only I had a mirror!"

Suddenly, there was a light tapping at the door. "Hoe? Who could it be?" I got up and walked towards the door to open it.

Outside was my pack, floating in midair. "HOOOOEEEEE!!!! GHOST!!!!" I ran around my room screaming.

"Sakura-chan! Daijoubu! It's me! Nakuru!"

"Nani? Nakuru-chan! Gomen!" Embarrassed, I took the pack from the butterfly that was struggling to hold it. "Arigato!"

"No problem- AHHH!!!"

"Nani?!"

"SAKURA-CHAN IS SO KAWAII!!!"

~Later~

I twirled around some more, giggling. Nakuru had helped me with make up, and my hair, which was basically the same, except now I had a very cute pink cherry blossom clip in it.

"Arigato Nakuru-chan!" I exclaimed happily.

"No problem!" Nakuru continued to fly around me, until I began to get dizzy.

"Ah, if only there was a mirror in this room!"

"Oh, Li-san doesn't allow mirrors in the palace," Nakuru told me.

"Eh? Why?" 'That seemed pretty strange.

"Well-"

"Ah! Mirror!" I unknowingly cut her off and jumped up. I began rummaging through my pack.

"Eh? Sakura-chan, what are you looking for?" Nakuru asked, puzzled.

"This!" I replied, holding up my star key. And this!" I said, holding up the Sakura Book. I raised my star key up. "Release!!"

The star key enlarged, and turned into my star wand. Nakuru watched all this, wide eyed. 

I flipped open the Sakura Book, and took out the Mirror card. "Mirror!"

Green mist swirled around the card then in front of me. A large ornately carved mirror began to form. Then, the mist cleared, and before me was a girl inside the mirror. 

"Arigato Mirror!" I bowed. Mirror nodded and bowed back, smiling. Then she took a step backwards, and disappeared into the mirror.

I turned back towards Nakuru. "Now we have a mirror, Nakuru-chan!" I gasped. "Nakuru-chan? Nakuru-chan!!!" The violet butterfly had fainted.

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' 

I surveyed myself in front of Sakura's mirror. I, too, had found a hidden room full of clothing, and I was now wearing a dress, which was very similar to Sakura's, except it was very pretty shade of purple with little plum blossoms embroidered on it. My shoes were of the same color, and were also made of silk.

Nakuru was now fluttering around me, fixing my hair, adding a bit of jewelry here and there, just fine tuning my outfit. I had come running into Sakura's room when I heard her scream. From there, a funny (to the third person) scene had ensued. 

It went something like this:

"Sakura-chan! I heard you scream!"

"Yes I did! Nakuru-chan fainted!.....HOE! Tomoyo-chan! What are you doing here? Did you run all the way from the stables?!"

"Iie! I'll explain later! Who's Nakuru??"

"Her!"

"Where?"

"The butterfly!"

"Butterflies faint???"

..............................................

Anyway, we had sorted everything out, and now Sakura was sitting on the bed happily humming, waiting for Nakuru to finish up with my outfit.

"There! All done!" Nakuru exclaimed happily.

I smiled, then twirled a bit in the mirror. Nakuru had put my hair up in a bun, and also put a very pretty, silver moon clip in. "Arigato Akizuki-san." 

"No problem! But please, call me Nakuru-chan!" She smiled cheerily.

"If you will call me Tomoyo", I grinned.

"Hai, Tomoyo-chan!" Then the butterfly glanced at the cuckoo clock hanging in Sakura's room. It was 7-o' clock. "Ah! I must go help prepare dinner! Ja!" Nakuru hurriedly flew out of the room.

"Ja!" Sakura called.

"Ja ne!" I smiled.

Then I turned to Sakura. "So, what should we do before dinner? We've got an hour."

Sakura thought a minute, then looked out the window. "Ah! I know! Let's go take a walk in the garden!" Sakura said cheerfully.

I nodded. "Hai." I was a bit worried though, she kept favoring her right arm, and I hoped she was all right.

I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======

I watched Sakura and Tomoyo leave the room and go into the garden through the viewing mirror in Hiragizawa's room. I had managed to sneak in when he went downstairs to direct the making of dinner. 

I frowned, I hadn't meant to hurt her. "Maybe I should apologize," I mused aloud.

"Worried Li-san?" Rang an annoyingly familiar voice.

"Hiragizawa!" I sprang up from the chair I was sitting in, and turned around to glare at the little blue cat. Then I regained my posture. "What would I be worried about?"

"I don't know. You tell me," Hiragizawa smirked. Then he frowned. "Apologize?"

"Er," Hiragizawa would freak if he knew I harmed 'a lady'. "Nothing. I just had a small run-" I cleared my throat. "Confrontation with Kinomoto-san."

"Li-san! What did you do?!" Hiragizawa barked. (A/N- heh....a barking cat..)

I froze. 'Why am I feeling guilty? She had it coming to her! Sneaking around my palace like that!' Then I remembered that Hiragizawa could read minds, and so I tried to clear my mind of thoughts.

Hiragizawa kept his stern tone. "Well, if you upset her, in anyway, yes, you should apologize. Dinner would be a good chance for it." He paused. "And you should also keep out of my room." Then he walked out, tail raised high.

Oh how I wanted to strangle him! But, those last words he said reminded me of what had happened earlier.

The baka was right, I should apologize. I sighed resignedly. 'But how?'

Hiragizawa called from the hallway. "Flowers perhaps!"


	8. Dinnertime!

Chapter Eight- Dinnertime

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

Yes that's right! After half a year (really very sorry ^-^') I'm back to bring you more of my really cheesy bad story!! I'll try to update more often, in between volleyball and sleeping in, lol....

Well here it is, the long awaited chapter 8! Enjoy!

Disclaimer- CCS belongs to Clamp because they draw better than me

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ne, Sakura-chan, daijoubu ka?" Tomoyo peered at me with worried eyes as we stepped out the elegant palace doors.

"Of course! I'm fine Tomoyo-chan. Um..hey, let's go over to that pagoda."

We walked slowly up the winding pathway to the dainty little pagoda on a hill overlooking a pond, stopping to smell the flowers every now and then. There was a typical chinese style bridge over the pond where koi of many colors swam. The pagoda was completely cobweb free, and not at all dusty as I had thought it would be. "Look at those fish! Next time we should bring some bread or something with us to feed them with."

"You know, Sakura-chan, this place is really pretty, but kind of..strange.." Tomoyo-chan commented gazing at the many lotus flowers floating on the surface of the water.

"You mean Li-san, Hiragizawa-san, and Nakuru-chan?" 

"Besides them, this place just seems...bewitched."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..for one thing, have you noticed that in this garden, all the flowers are in bloom? Even the ones that aren't in season?"

I blinked and looked around me at all the beautiful blossoms. It was the new year already, but barely. We had celebrated New Years just two weeks ago, and it was still winter. A cherry blossom floated down from a sakura tree in full bloom. "You're right." I murmured. "It's way too early for the cherry blossom trees to flower."

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' 

Sakura's forehead creased in worry and her eyes grew dark in thought. "Ah, but I'm probably just thinking too much. The climate here is probably just really warm." I comforted her.

Sakura turned to me and smiled, all worry gone. She was a very carefree person and never stayed sad for long. "You're right! We shouldn't worry too much."

I smiled back. "In a year we'll be back home with Otou-san and until then, we can write him letters and stuff. Maybe, Hiragizawa-san will agree to let us pick a flower to send to him, he'd like that."

"Yeah...oh that reminds me, how come you're here now, too?"

"I was worried about you." 

"Well, I'm glad I'm not alone. Arigato Tomoyo-chan." Sakura hugged me.

"Me too." I whispered.

(A/N- awww..one of those little best friendly-ish moments)

Suddenly, a clear chime rung out in the air from the castle. "What was that?" Two more chimes followed it. "Has it been an hour already?"

Sakura walked over to a sundial and checked. "Mm..it's only 7:50, we've still got ten more minutes."

"We might as well start walking over then. It'll probably take us that long to find the dining room, this place is pretty big."

~Third Person~

"Where are those two?" Syaoran asked impatiently. His claws clacked on the marble floors. It was five past eight. Just as he said that, the girls walked through the door, panting slightly.

"Gomen nasai." Tomoyo bowed. "We got a little lost." Sakura looked at the table in confusion. The wolf was seated at the head, and Eriol just a little further away, with Nakuru the butterfly perched on a plate in front of the seat in front of him, but there were many more seats spread out all over. Needless to say, it was a very large table.

"Are we waiting for any one else?" Sakura asked tentatively. She started to move toward a seat, then stopped, unsure of where to sit.

------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------

"No, take any seat you like." I smiled. 

Daidouji-san promptly took her seat, and folded her napkin on her lap. Sakura followed suit.

"Well if it's all right with you ladies, I'd like to begin eating before I get any older." Syaoran snarled, ever impatient. I sighed inwardly and scolded him telepathically.

'What about the flowers? And the apology?'

'Can it wait?' He grimaced. When a wolf grimaces it kind of looks constipated. Sakura scratched her head in confusion. Tomoyo, ever the lady ignored it and waited for the host, Syaoran, to declare dinner started.

'No!'

Syaoran made a face. "Fine, fine!" He turned around and picked up a bouquet of flowers from the ground. The two girls were confused. Syaoran tossed it to Sakura, who caught it.

"Here, I'm sorry." Except proud Li-san was not used to apologizing, and it came out more like, "HERE! I'm.so...sorr......sorrrrryyy."

"Ano..arigato Li-san, demo, why are you sorry?" She hugged the bouquet of nadesico flowers. "I love the flowers by the way." She smiled

Li-san blushed slightly, and stammered. "Yo..you're welcome...." I smiled to myself, he's finally being more polite. "I'm..sor...sorrrrrry...because of..well..because of what....OH JUST START EATING ALREADY! I'M SORRY ALL RIGHT?!"

Well so much for that.

Sakura sweat dropped and immediately started eating, Nakuru took looong sips of her honey, and I, not scared or anything started on my fish. Tomoyo was the only one who seemed to retain her composure, but then I noticed her chewing on one pea for a really really long time.

"So..ah...what did you guys do so far?" I ventured. 

"Stuff."

"mm"

"Yeah" The girls continued eating timidly. Conversation for the rest of dinner was at a minimum and half an hour later when it was finally over, they were only too happy, and relieved, to be excused.

"Well..." Nakuru said when they had left. "I think that went quite...well..." Syaoran left immediately.


	9. A Plan

Chapter Nine- A Plan 

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/' = Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

I need to try putting more stuff in chapters.....Well, here's Chapter Nine! Enjoy! ^-^

------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------

The door shut tight, and I quickly muttered a sound-proofing spell, then without looking at Nakuru, muttered. "This isn't working."

"Li-sama is a very prideful kid, ne?" The butterfly hovered over a teacup.

I groaned. 'Don't I know it...'

"It's because, I think, because he felt he has been wronged, being changed into what he regards as a monster and all. Despite all the strictness of Yelan as leader of the Li clan, he must miss his family very much. I think that maybe it's made him more protective of his feelings, and so he doesn't let anyone in."

"Protective nothing, he's a spoiled brat." I brooded darkly. Nakuru listened with the expressionless face of a small insect. "Some how or another, we've got to get him and Sakura-san together."

"Demo, Eriol-sama, you can't force these things you know, sometimes they take some time, and sometimes they don't happen at all."

"But nobody ever said you couldn't help it along.." I smirked.

"Dong" the bell outside in the garden chimed, I glanced at the clock face, 12 midnight! Before the bell had finished tolling its 12th chime, I had formulated a plan. "Nakuru," I said calmly. "Go unlock the cellar door."

"The shelter? Why?"

"Just do it, I believe there may be a...._little problem down there, so Li-sama has to go take a look at it_. Then come back up and meet me here." I opened the door for her, and Nakuru flitted through off to do her duty.

I went over to my viewing mirror, and made it show the cellar, just so I could watch, and also see through to my plan. Then I dashed over to my potted lavender plant and pulled off a stalk, holding it gently in my mouth. From my shelves stacked full of numerous bottles and vials, I took a pinch of a certain powder between my claws. I then summoned a small nadesico bloom from the garden. It floated up to me through the window. "Now all I need is Nakuru."

Through the mirror, I saw Nakuru leading Syaoran to the basement. 

"What's wrong?" Syaoran asked, slightly annoyed.

"Ah...I..the pipes I believe, there's something not quite right"

Syaoran looked skeptical.

"Umum...I'llberightbackjusttakealookandDON'TLEAVETHEROOM...until you find that...thing..wrong...with..the pipes." Nakuru stuttered. 

Syaoran tilted his head, as if saying, "you really expect me to believe that?", and began to make his way to the door. 

"NO! erm...I mean...this is really serious and you need to stay right here and wait for me to get the.....wrench! Please stay here!!! You need the wrench!"

Syaoran plopped down on the floor and sighed in resignation. "Ok Nakuru...go get the _wrench_." Lucky for us, he must have thought Nakuru was just playing another crazy prank, which she was prone to do ever since the boredom of confinement to these castle walls, and decided to humor her for once.

"Real smooth Nakuru, real smooth." I muttered sarcastically. I sighed and said an incantation, then stared at a pipe along one of the cellar walls, willing it to break. Water gushed out and knocked Syaoran over. The soaked and dripping wolf glared wildly at Nakuru, who was flitting around in distress. "Erm...see? Very serious! Sporadic water bursting! We need a wrench!! I'll go get...that." She flew out of the door like lightning and soon, she was tapping lightly at my door. Suppressing, with some difficulty, my laughter, I opened the door and took the stalk of sleepy lavender along with the powder and ground it up with the nadesico. I sprinkled the result on Nakuru and told her, "Fly to Sakura's room, and lead her to the basement."

"What? What'll I tell her? To go fix the pipes?!"

"Calm down, you won't have to tell her anything, you don't need to say anything, but don't let her figure out you're Nakuru, and don't let her catch up to you." Nakuru was baffled. "Just hurry and go! The spell will start working soon, and it's only potent for five minutes!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was in a field of butterflies. Chasing them, but not really wanting to catch them, for fear of breaking their delicate bodies. Then, a pale lavender one flew right up to my face, it left a trail of sparkling dust in the air. I giggled, and followed it through the field. It left the field and flew into a sunny forest, then suddenly, as it reached the first tree, a brilliant light shone, and as it faded away, it revealed a familiar figure.

"Kaa-san...." I whispered, wide eyed. 

Okaa-san smiled and nodded, then dashed off into the woods. "Okaa-san! Matte, matte yo!" I reached out my arms to my mother. I ran as hard as I could, I had to catch my mother.

She came to the entrance of a dark cave, and paused a moment, looking back at me, then ran into the darkness. "Please! Wait for me! Kaa-san!!" My face wet with tears, I panted heavily as I chased after her. "Please...Okaa-san..wait for me..." But it was too late, as the air shimmered around her once more, and she was gone, the cold darkness surrounding me. I collapsed to the floor and wept, tears blurring my eyes. I had wanted to see my mother again for so long, to be held in her arms. Then, I was aware of warmth, flooding my body as two strong hands pressed firmly down on my shoulders.

"Who..?" I looked up to see two intense, but warm, brown eyes looking at me with concern, a boy about my age with messy brown hair.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I..who are you?" I whispered, voice cracking and barely audible.

"Are you okay?" Syaoran asked. I blinked in surprise as the mists of my dream cleared. I was sitting in a cellar. Syaoran's dark eyes and his wolfy self were a bit closer to me than I was used to.

"Y-yeah.." I said shakily. He had big teeth, big carnivorous teeth, and I was very, very scared. Then I noticed his eyes, it was so dark, but the light of the moon shone through a window, and all I could see were his eyes. 'They look like _his_ eyes' As soon as I thought that, I instantly forgot about what I had been dreaming and couldn't think of the person I had compared Syaoran's eyes to. It seemed so important, though! At that moment it was the most important thing to me, but I couldn't think of why. Syaoran stepped into the light a bit more, and I could see that he was very...damp.

"Where am I? Where are....we?" 

"The cellar..." Syaoran squirmed uneasily. "...and I can't open the door. And also, the pipes are busted."

------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------

As Nakuru flew back into my room I congratulated her. "Nice work.", but Nakuru was peeved.

"Locking them in the cellar?! That was your idea?!"

"Why not? There's plenty of food and water down there, and if they run out, I can always 'magic' some back down. Not to mention there's plenty of privacy for bonding."

"What if he hurts her?"

"I'll watch over them and make sure nothing bad happens." I said nonchalantly. 

Nakuru was silent, and though I couldn't physically see it, I could tell she was giving me the evil eye.

"So you're locking them in the cellar?" She calmly asked one more time. 

I twitched my tail in the air, as opposed to snapping fingers, and finished the barrier charm I had put around the cellar. No one could go in, no one could get out, at least not until Sakura decided to reveal her powers to Syaoran, which meant that there needed to be at least some trust between them. I smiled mischievously.

"Yup."

I snuggled down onto my 'Throne of Evil' as Nakuru had dubbed it, and for the first time in a long while, it felt just like old days.

I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D====== 

"You mean we're stuck in here?!" She gasped.

I nodded solemnly, shuddering slightly. 'Damn you Hiragizawa. Damn_you_.'. I was wet, it was dark, and I was stuck with this little girl. Then again, I could always eat her.

I raised my eyebrows at that thought and looked at her imagining some stuff.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A weird look came over Syaoran's eyes, similar to the way a cat looks at a mouse. At our house, we had a cat, Tomoyo found him, so she got to name him. We also had a lot of mice. It was _not_ fun thinking about what Kero did to mice while Syaoran stared at me like that. (A/N- The Kero in this story isn't our lovable Keroberos, it's just a cat, but Tomoyo named him Kero anyway, cus the real Kero-chan didn't get sucked into the fairy tale ^-^)

"Er...well..that's all right. I'm sure we'll be fine. The others will find us soon, and this is a cellar right?" I asked, looking at all the dimly illuminated barrels and crates. On a shelf there were also some jars. Hung by the window were some dried peppers. "So we'll have plenty of not me, er I mean, veggies to eat, well not that I don't think there's meat in here, just that we can eat both and um..."

An awkward silence. 

Then, I noticed, once again, that Syaoran was very incredibly wet. "How'd you get so wet?" I asked with concern.

I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D======I==D====== 

(A/N- sorry I keep switching POV's!)

"Oh, that. One of the pipes busted on me." I shrugged, trying to be dignified. I wouldn't be ego-tripping for a while. 'Damn you Hiragizawa' I thought again.

Sakura began taking of her shawl, which she had thrown over her night gown. 

"What are you doing?" She carefully placed the shawl on me. "You'll be cold. You've just got a nightgown on, and I've got this fur coat." I winced, I didn't like being reminded of my furriness.

"But it's wet." She frowned. "I'll be fine, but I hope that shawl will be enough to prevent you from catching cold."

'Catching cold? Even in a situation like this, she was worrying about me? Catching a cold?' 

"Now, let's find some candles. It's much too dark down here." She smiled.

I was now slightly warmer, but mostly on my face. I scolded myself promptly in my mind, then blinked, shook off the tingly hot sensation on both cheeks, and growled in agreement.


	10. Cake

Chapter Ten- Cake

~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV

I==D====== = Syaoran's POV

------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'= Tomoyo's POV

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV

'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech

_ O! I feel so proud! ^-^ I'm actually making some progress with this story! Now if I can just stop slacking off between chapters...I may actually finish this!

Oh yes, and thank you Dacia! I realize this thing is pretty sketchy, I'll try to edit it more and fit the details in better. (as painful as it is to read over my stuff 'cus the more I do, the more confused I get...lol) Also, thanks very much to Lady DBLA for her unwavering support of me! ^-^

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'

I was tidying the bed as a light knocking came at my door. I'm an early riser, and had already dressed and freshened up. Today, I chose out of my roomy closet a pair of white capris and a beige, chinese, long-sleeved top. It was still January, and still a bit chilly outside, so I found a lavender jacket to go over it all. That closet is amazing! Every time I step in it changes! My hair was in a casual bun, slightly messy, but sufficient. 

"Just a second!" Waves of sunlight cascaded through the gauzy half open curtains. I flung the windows wide open and a playful breeze bantered with the sheets. I hurried to the door, humming. Such a nice day, maybe later Sakura and I could go down to the garden again and explore that body of water I had seen reflecting the moonlight the night before.

"Ohayou! Tomoyo-chan!" Nakuru chirped. 

I smiled. "Ohayou Gozaimasu, Nakuru-ch-brlblblbl" I blushed and looked down at my stomach, who obviously wanted to be fed. "Ah, gomen nasai." I said sheepishly.

"Heehee, I was just about to call you down to breakfast! Hope you're as starved as you sound, 'cus I made pancakes!"

"I'd love to try them, I'm sure they're very good." 'How does a butterfly make pancakes?' I shrugged off the question. 'Things are strange here, I just need to accept it.'

This morning, instead of going downstairs, we went instead down a few corridors, and turned onto a cozy, sunny room with windows that reached the floor, with lovely, white, Egyptian silk curtains to match. Comfy couches were spread out around the room with flowery throw pillows on them. Everything was either white or a cheerful pastel yellow, and vases of yellow daffodils dotted side-tables. In the center of the room was a glass, medium-sized table where there were five chairs. A slender, dark blue cat sat on one, and grinned when it saw us approach.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Daidouji-san, Nakuru." The cat greeted.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Hiiragizawa-san." I bowed a bit. "Gomen ne, I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"It's fine, I just came here a little while ago." 

"Anou..." I glanced at the two other empty seats as Nakuru and I sat down, well, actually I sat and Nakuru perched on a napkin. "Where are Sakura-chan and Li-san?"

"Oh..sleeping in probably." he smiled, a little too much? "Don't worry. Besides, since I woke up before Li-san, I got to choose the place we have breakfast. I think this little nook is a little nicer than the dining hall."

"It's very charming." I gazed around the room which was so bright and cheerful, it made me feel that way as well. I'll tell Sakura about the lake later when she wakes up.

"Here! Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!" Nakuru fluttered anxiously over a towering plate of pancakes. "Try some!"

I took a bite of one, and Eriol did the same. Our faces were identical, calm, blank and....pleasant. Maybe _he_ really felt like that, but inside I swallowed the chunk as fast as I could and fought with all my might against the tiny muscles of my face.

"What do you think?" Nakuru asked happily, obviously very proud of her creations.

"They're very um...sweet." I forced myself to grin.

"Yes, very, very sugary." Eriol agreed. For a split second his face revealed his true feelings, and I could tell they were similar to mine.

"Great I'm glad you like them!" the oblivious Nakuru giggled. "Have some more!"

"NO!" we screamed, then looked at each other with surprise. At the same time we sat back down, as we had both stood up to voice our opinions, and at the same time, collected ourselves and regained composure.

"I mean, they're very good, but um, but what are these?" I pointed at something, anything.

------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------

"Oh! Those are creampuffs, I didn't make them, the kitchen did." Nakuru narrated.

"The kitchen made them?"

"Yeah! I'll walk you down their after breakfast and show you!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Tomoyo silently. 'Smart girl.' I thought, then frowning slightly as I wondered if she'd get suspicious about where Sakura had gone. 'Ah well, I better help her with this charade.'

"We'll all go down and show you." I purred.

~*~*~*~*~*~Down in the cellar~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up to the noise of a heavy pounding sound. "Tomoyo-chan?" I saw Syaoran throwing himself at the cellar door. 'Oh that's right, we're still in the cellar.' "Oi! Li-san! Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself!"

"You want to get out of here don't you?" He growled and went back to the door. "and besides, I figure they'll hear us sooner or later." There were already long gouge marks on the door where I was sure he'd been pawing at. His dark brown fur was already covered in wood chips and dust from the effort.

I bit my lip. With my magic, I could easily get us out of here, but I'm not so sure I want Syaoran to know about it.

I==D======Still Down in the cellarI==D======

I frowned. With my magic, I could easily get out of here, but I'm not so sure I want Sakura to know.

'Wait a minute..' I closed my eyes in concentration, then mentally slapped myself for forgetting. Sakura seemed to realize the same thing, too, because we both shouted at exactly the same time.

"YOU HAVE MAGIC!!"

o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'

I laughed at the sight of the dark blue cat, sitting in the flour bag. He had tripped on the rolling pin I had dropped on the floor. "Gomen nasai! Hiragizawa-kun! Daijoubu ka?"

Fur standing on end, he managed a gruff. "Daijoubu." After breakfast we had all come down to the kitchen, where Nakuru showed me just how the kitchen made cream puffs, as well as the rest of our meals. All the supposedly inanimate objects down here, were clearly very much animate, and were whirring busily around the room as though they had minds of their own. It had taken a bit to get over the shock, but then it didn't affect me to much. After all, when you lived with Sakuru-chan, you got used to magic. That's when I had suggested baking a cake. And so, here we were.

"Ne, Eriol-sama, you look like a ghost!" Nakuru teased. 

I was puzzled when the cat's eyes had dilated and in a low voice replied. "A ghost..yeah."

Nakuru seemed to understand though, because she said sorry, and then there was a silent period. Soon however, we forgot all about the ghost cat.

"Aiiiee!! Is it done yet? Is it done yet?"

"No, Nakuru-chan! We still have to bake it. Then, it won't be ready for decorating for another hour." I carefully placed the cake batter in the oven and fired it up. "Let's all meet back here in an hour, and the cake should be done by then."

"Sure." Eriol smiled, then said. "I need to go check on something anyway."

"I'll come with you!" Nakuru chirruped.

"Well, then I'm going to go take a walk." I decided. We said our see ya laters' and went our separate ways.

------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------------;---@---;------

I smiled as I gazed down into the viewing mirror. 'Well that took a while for them to figure out.' I thought.

"Shouldn't Sakura-chan have known about Li-san's powers before just now?" Nakuru voiced my own question.

"Well, yeah, I suppose.." I swished my tail thoughtfully. "She certainly is strong enough to, but then again, she didn't even notice I had powers either. Then again, she was probably just very confused when she just arrived here, not to mention how she flinches whenever Li-san is around....she probably never was able to calm down enough to sense anything. Until now of course." (A/N- I hope that bit mends some of the holes I left in the story! ^-^')

"So, does this mean that they can come out of the cellar now?"

I sighed. "Well, I'd really wanted to keep them in there longer, but as they've both realized each others powers, there's no way I can keep them in. Unless..." I smirked, for the _second_ time in a long while, things felt just like old days.

"How exactly are you going to do this then?"

"Well, I won't exactly keep them in the cellar, but magic or not, I want to give them some alone time, just to get to know each other." pause for effect, followed by a sinister chuckle "And that is why, I'm transporting them to the labyrinth!"

The labyrinth was a huge and elaborate stone maze under the palace, which was created at the very start of the Li clan as a prison for their captured enemies. Until a regular prison was built, that was where they all went, and none ever got out. The more recent generations used it as a training arena.

"The labyrinth?" Nakuru asked skeptically. "But Li-san used to play in there all the time as a kid! He'll definitely remember how to get out!"

"Of course not. Yes, he did play in the labyrinth as a kid, but that doesn't mean he ever found his way out. Besides, it wasn't playing really, it was part of his training, and also, the labyrinth changes from time to time, so it's never always the same maze."

"Eriol-sama, since they have powers, can't they just blast through the walls?"

I smiled. "The maze will change every time you try to." (A/N- think of "The Maze" card)

"Well how are they supposed to get out?!"

"It's not impossible, just hard."

"...."

"I'll help them if they get really lost."

"...."

I sighed, and padded over to an dusty shelf. I carefully picked up a large bell, strung with red ribbons with my teeth. "Remember this?" (A/N note- same once as in the episode with "The Maze" card)

"Oh.....! But, how are you going to transport them to the labyrinth anyway?"

"I'm not totally weak! I can still manage it."

"It'll really drain you though, won't it?" Nakuru fluttered with worry and landed on my nose. "Master! Please don't use all your energy up like that! It's not good for you!"

"Don't worry, it's a piece of cake. Would you rather us stay like we are?"

"Well, no, but.."

"No buts, I'm doing it." I frowned. "Well actually, now that I think of it, I can't do it right now, I'll have to wait until 12 tonight, otherwise how will I hold the staff?" I mused aloud.

"Well, I guess I can't prevent you from doing that, but I will prevent us from making Tomoyo-chan wait any longer!" A small clock on the wall chimed signaling the end of an hour. 

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

"Aiieee! You're such a talented cook!"

Tomoyo smiled demurely. "No, I've just had a lot of practice at home, and besides, both of you helped me with it."

"It's true." Eriol agreed. "This looks very good, I could never have made such a thing by myself." He put one final strawberry in the center.

"Let's go show it to Li-sama and Sakura-chan!" I suggested. Eriol shot a warning look at me. "Er, I mean, let's save it as a surprise for...lunch?" Eriol shook his head casually."...no dinner." My master gave the tiniest of nods. "Right dinner! As dessert!"

"Ok, whatever you think is best." Tomoyo didn't seem to notice the awkwardness.


End file.
